“With iSelect, employers set a budget, a defined contribution amount for employee benefits and then choose a health plan that fits their footprint. Employees make consumer choices among a variety of benefits that fit their personal and family needs,” said Denise Christy, president of iSelect. “With the iSelect/Ulliance partnership, employers can now offer a full range of incentivized wellness services — from health assessments and wellness coaching, along with a comprehensive employee assistance program.”

Through iSelect, based in Royal Oak, employers can integrate a verified wellness incentive model into their defined contribution approach. Each employer sets aside incentive dollars in addition to their allocations for employee benefits, and through a separate agreement with Ulliance, sets up the ability to support, track and monitor the wellness activities completed by each employee. This approach allows employees to earn and accrue those incentives as dollars that can be spent the following year on additional benefits or to offset their individual premium costs. Employees who have a health savings account (HSA) may even choose to put all of their earned incentives into their HSA and save those dollars for a future unplanned medical expense.

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“We structured this in a way that gives any employee the chance to earn those incentive reward dollars, regardless of their physical ability or health status,” said Kent Sharkey, CEO of Ulliance.

“An employee, for example, can earn dollars by getting an annual physical, completing a telephonic coaching session following a health risk appraisal, or by simply attending a series of webinars,” Sharkey adds. “We firmly believe employers want to have a smarter work environment with employees who are both physically and emotionally healthy. We are looking to the extensive network of certified agents with iSelect to bring this new model to the employer market.”

“This is a win-win for employers and their employees,” said Christy. “Managing employee wellness including rewarding healthy behavior is essential to managing an employer’s health care costs. Together, iSelect and Ulliance offer employers access to an integrated suite of wellness options including incentivizing utilization and tracking outcomes – all in one place.”

iSelect Custom Benefits Store is Michigan’s first private insurance exchange serving small and mid-sized employers (10 to 10,000 employees) through a network of nearly 1,000 certified agents throughout the state. iSelect allows employers to set a defined amount they will contribute for employee benefits and select a provider network; employees choose from a menu of options depending on their needs, paying the difference. iSelect’s comprehensive offerings include medical, dental, vision, wellness and ancillary services.